“My Last Duchess”By Robert Browning

Robert Browning

Married Elizabeth Barrett Browning, also a famous poet

Wrote plays as well as poetry Critics claimed his poetry was too

difficult to read “Perfected” the dramatic monologue

SummaryA man shares a painting of his “last

Duchess” (ex-wife or late wife) with a guest. He points out the blush in her cheeks.

He suggests his wife was unfaithful, and he could not ignore her infidelity. (Whether or not this is true, and what he did to her as a result, is subject to the reader’s interpretation.)

Then he reminds his guest of his offer to marry the Count’s daughter. They return to the gathering downstairs.

Form of PoemDramatic Monologue

Significant experience Unknown audience Only one side of the conversation is heard

(Like listening to someone talk on the phone)

Rhyming poem that reads like free verse

Every two lines rhyme. Aa, bb, cc, etc.

Lines wrap. Thoughts (or sentences) end in middle of lines so the rhyme is not

obvious. Readers read the punctuation rather than the rhyme.

Dramatic Situation Speaker: The Duke Audience: An unknown guest Setting: His home

In a room upstairs Occasion: He is showing the

guest the painting of his former wife

Conflict: His wife was unfaithful. He stopped her, and now she is his “last duchess.”

Thought Structure Part A, Lines 1 – 4

o Introductiono Shows a friend the portrait of his wifeo Introduces his wife as his “last Duchess”o Says she “looks alive”

Part B, Lines 5 – 10o Says this is a secret painting that few are allowed to see (he keeps it covered)o The secret nature implies foul play

Part C, Lines 11 - 24o Introduces his wife’s infidelityo His Duchess has a “spot of joy” on her cheeks and a “half-flush” along her necko He was not the one to “call up that spot of joy”o She was too easily “made glad” by other men and had looks that “went

everywhere”

Thought Structure (cont.) Part D, 25 – 34

o The Duke speculates on the details of her infidelityo Men gave her things that would “draw from her … approving speech”

or a “blush, at least”o She thanked them “I know not how”

Part E, Lines 34 – 40o He justifies what he did with her/ to hero He couldn’t ask her to stop, or she wouldn’t stop if he askedo He’d have to “stoop” (compromise, swallow his pride) if he ignored or

accepted her actionso His justifications prompt the question: Was she really unfaithful or

was he excessively jealous?

Thought Structure (cont.) Part F, Lines 40 - 46

o He chose not to “stoop”o He commanded something, and her smiles stopped

o Did he break her spirit?o Did he divorce her?o Did he kill her?

Part G, Lines 46 – 54o He implies he killed her: She stands, in the portrait, “as if alive”o He asks his guest to return with him to the gathering downstairso He speaks lightly of the Count’s daughter, whom he hopes to marry

Part H, Lines 54 – 56o He asks his guest to notice the sculpture of Neptune who is “taming” a sea

horseo He suggests he also “tamed” his wife

Thought Structure (cont.) Key Lines

“She had/ A heart—how shall I say?—too soon made glad/ Too easily impressed; she liked whate’er/ She looked on, and her looks went everywhere” (li. 21 – 24).

“I choose/ Never to stoop” (li. 42-43). “I gave commands;/ Then all smiles stopped

together” (li. 45-46).

These lines establish the problem and the Duke’s solution.

Emotional Structure Tone:

Lines 1 – 41 Scornful, resentfulo The blush on her cheek and down her necko “As if she ranked/ My gift of a nine-hundred-year-old name/

With anybody’s gift” (li. 32 – 34)

Change in Tone: Lines 42 - 43 Authoritative, unapologetic, jealous o “I choose/ Never to stoop.”

Lines 45 – 46o “I gave commands;/ Then all smiles stopped together.”

Emotional Structure (cont.) Loaded Words or Images

o I think he killed her (or had her killed).o Many references to life or death.

o “last Duchess” (li. 1)o “looking as if she were alive” (li. 2)o “half-flush that dies along her throat” (li. 19)o “dropping of the daylight in the West” (li. 26)o “stands as if alive” (li. 46-47)o “cast in bronze for me” (li. 56)

Irony/ Paradoxo He shows his guest a portrait of his “last” wife as a preface to the

new woman he is courting and hopes to marryo “The fair daughter’s self, as I avowed at starting, is my object” (li. 42-53)

o He admits he already “tamed” one (portrait) and will tame another (statue)

Images Created

Title: o “My Last Duchess” implies he’s had several

duchesses and/or plans to have more.

Contrasts or Parallels:o Images of red (signifying blood) on whiteo Spot of joy (blush) on her cheeksoHalf-flush on throato A heart too soon made gladoDropping of daylight (sunset)o Bough of cherries while riding a white mule

Images Created Figurative Language:

o Metaphor and Literary Referenceo “Notice Neptune, though, /Taming a sea

horse” (li. 54-55)o Neptune, the god of the sea, taming a sea horse o Man, the superior, taming his wife

o Hyperboleo “My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name”

o Giving her his last name in marriage o He thought it the greatest gift in the worldo She treated it as trivial

o Inferenceo Readers are left to decide for themselves what

happened to the duchess. They are also left to decide whether the duchess was really unfaithful or if the duke was just jealous.

Theme The Duke likes possessing things

(art) and people (wives). Although the wife might have been

unfaithful, the Duke is a tyrant. He craves control, is excessively jealous, and allows his pride to dictate his actions.

Stay away from relationships that involve people like the Duke or Duchess!

Be weary of jealousy. Marry for love, not position or

power. Be careful of tyrants—especially

when they readily admit this fault.

Text Connection

Explanation of Connection: “The Chair” is also a dramatic monologue. In this

song, the speaker is a man in a bar having a conversation with a woman whose chair he “accidentally” took.

“The Chair” by George Straithttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghnEDbxArdE